Table of Contents UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K (Mark One) x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 or ¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File Number: 001-35168 LinkedIn Corporation (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 47-0912023 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 2029 Stierlin Court Mountain View, CA 94043 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) (650) 687-3600 (Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of Each Class Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share New York Stock Exchange Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No ¨ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No x Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ¨ Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. ¨ Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer ¨ ¨ Non-accelerated filer (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x As of June 30, 2015 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of Class A and Class B common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $23,695,488,242 . As of January 31, 2016 , there were 116,508,021 shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding and 15,566,688 shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock outstanding. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its 2016 Annual Meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 . Table of Contents LINKEDIN CORPORATION FORM 10-K TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I Item 1. Business 4 Item 1A. Risk Factors 16 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 35 Item 2. Properties 35 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 37 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 37 PART II Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 38 Item 6. Selected Financial Data 39 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 43 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 68 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 70 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 114 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 114 Item 9B. Other Information 117 PART III Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 117 Item 11. Executive Compensation 117 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 117 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 117 Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 117 PART IV Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 118 Table of Contents Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, particularly in Part I, Item 1: “Business,” Part I, Item 1A: “Risk Factors” and Part 2, Item 7: “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” These statements are often identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” or “continue,” and similar expressions or variations. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including, but not limited to: • our ability to increase our member base and create long-term value for all of our stakeholders; • our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing technology and network infrastructure; • our ability to increase engagement of our solutions by our members, enterprises and professional organizations; • our ability to develop effective solutions for mobile devices; • our ability to protect our users’ information and adequately address privacy concerns; • our ability to maintain an adequate rate of revenue growth; • the effects of increased competition in our market; • our ability to retain our existing subscribers and our Talent Solutions and Marketing Solutions customers; • our ability to effectively manage our growth; • our ability to successfully enter new markets, expand our product offerings and manage our international presence and expansion; • our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property; • costs associated with defending intellectual property infringement and other claims; • our investment philosophy for 2016; • our expectations for our financial performance in 2016, including our revenues, cost of revenues, expenses and expected tax benefits; and • the attraction and retention of qualified employees and key personnel. For a discussion of some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, see the discussion on risk factors that appears in Part I, Item 1A: “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and other risks and uncertainties detailed in this and our other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K represent our views as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. - 3 - Table of Contents PART I Item 1. Business Overview We are the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with over 400 million members in over 200 countries and territories as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe we are the most extensive, accurate and accessible network focused on professionals. LinkedIn's value proposition for our members and customers is simple: connect to opportunity. Members use our platform to stay connected and informed, advance their career and work smarter. We provide many of our products at no cost to members with the belief that our freemium business model drives the most value for our members. In return, member growth and engagement strengthens the network effect that can benefit each individual LinkedIn member. The critical mass of our network also enables us to create value for our customers through three distinct product lines: Talent Solutions, which includes Hiring and Learning & Development, Marketing Solutions, and Premium Subscriptions. Our products are sold through two channels, an offline field sales organization that engages both large and small enterprise customers; and an online channel where enterprise customers, small business, and individual members purchase products on a self-serve basis. We seek to create reciprocal value with our products between members and customers. We believe this builds mutually aligned incentives and marketplace dynamics supporting our long-term financial objectives of sustainable revenue and earnings growth. We were incorporated in Delaware in March 2003 under the name LinkedIn, Ltd. and changed our name to LinkedIn Corporation in January 2005. Our principal executive offices are located at 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, and our telephone number is (650) 687-3600. Our website address is www.linkedin.com. We completed our initial public offering in May 2011 and our Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “LNKD”.